In Beaufort County, 10 percent of voters must seek photo ID to vote

COLUMBIA — Of Beaufort County’s 92,879 registered voters, 9,674 or just more than 10.4 percent will not be able to vote in the next election unless they obtain a state-approved photo identification card.

The United State Department of Justice is reviewing South Carolina’s new voter ID law, which was pushed by Republican state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley in May. For the law to go into effect, the federal justice department must issue a decision under the Voting Rights Act, given South Carolina and other southern states’ history of discrimination.

The governor, however, announced that Sept. 28 will be “Identification Card Day,” which will allow any citizen 18 or older who has no valid driver’s license or identification card to request state-sponsored transportation to an office of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Reservations must be made by Sept. 22.

Statewide the new law would bar 178,175 of the state’s 2.5 million registered voters from voting, unless they obtained identification. The affected population with no driver’s license or approved ID makes up 6.96 percent of the state’s registered voters. Under the new law, a military ID or passport would also be OK.

In Jasper County, the new law would disqualify nearly the same percentage of voters as in Beaufort County. Of Jasper County’s 11,987 registered voters, 10.18 percent or 1,220 people would not be able to vote without obtaining a state-approved card either through their own means or by using the state-sponsored Identification Card Day.

Republicans have argued that imposing a photo ID requirement on citizens who wish to vote in elections is reasonable, considering that airline passengers must show ID, as do people who purchase certain medicines. Democrats, however, say the effort by South Carolina Republicans and the GOP nationwide is trying to suppress voter turnout in various states among blacks, the elderly and lower-income citizens in the next presidential election.

There have been no known instances in recent South Carolina history in which individuals have fraudulently presented themselves to vote, according to the S.C. State Election Commission.

Democrats also pointed to the added taxpayer expense of the new photo ID requirement. South Carolina’s new law, which began as H. 3003, is estimated to cost $1.3 million plus a few hundred thousand dollars in recurring annual costs.

In Georgia, the photo ID requirement has been in effect for nearly five years.

Matt Carrothers, director of media relations for the Ga. Secretary of State, said officials carried out an extensive public-education campaign for the identification requirement. They even partnered with the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons.

In the wake of the new law, the state ran 5,720 radio PSAs featuring the secretary of state and Atlanta Falcons players speaking about the photo ID requirement, early voting options, and registration deadlines. There were also end zone-to-end zone LED banners at home games, radio ads, and 400 ads were displayed inside Atlanta’s MARTA buses, among other efforts, he said.

Since 2006, the state of Georgia, which has about 5.7 million registered voters, has issued 25,123 voter ID cards through county elections offices and the state Department of Driver Services. Of those, 51 percent were given out in 2008, the presidential election year, according to the Ga. Secretary of State’s office.

Georgia’s law has faced several legal challenges, with the most recent occurring in the state Supreme Court in March. By a vote of 6-1 the court voted to uphold the voter-ID law. From 2006 through 2010, Georgia’s voter-ID law has cost $1.6 million according to materials from the Secretary of State’s office.

Carrothers said Georgia never offered taxpayer-funded transportation to those who needed an ID card, but called South Carolina’s plan “very unique.”

What you need to know about South Carolina’s Sept. 28 Identification Card Day:

- You must have a birth certificate, Social Security card, proof of residency and legal documentation for any name change, such as a marriage certificate.

- If your ID has not expired, you do not need a new one to vote. Identification Card Day is for people who have no valid credentials. To vote, you need only one ID, either a driver’s license or an identification card.

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